Mom testifies in 3rd ‘Baby Lollipops’ murder trial

MIAMI – A Florida woman accused of killing her toddler son in what became known as the “Baby Lollipops” case has taken the stand in her third trial after remaining silent during her first two.

The Miami Herald reports that 56-year-old Ana Maria Cardona testified on Monday that her former girlfriend, Olivia Gonzalez, took the boy from her and eventually killed him.

Cardona’s latest trial began last week. Two previous convictions and death sentences were tossed by the Florida Supreme Court. Prosecutors decided against seeking death a third time.

The death of her 3-year-old son Lazaro Figueroa was huge news after the boy’s body, weighing 18 pounds (8 kilograms) and badly beaten, was discovered in the bushes of a Miami Beach home in November 1990. Police initially could not identify the boy and called him “Baby Lollipops” after a design on his T-shirt.

Cardona previously said the boy’s death was an accident.

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Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com